The bedroom of Room 404 in the post office seemed more crowded than usual tonight.
Yang Jian, Li Yang, Wang Shan, Yang Xiaohua, Leuk Qingqing, Eagle, and the three couriers who were hiding in the wardrobe earlier made for a total of nine people.
Yet, this group was splintered into several smaller factions.
Yang Jian and Li Yang formed one group, Leuk Qingqing and Eagle another, while Wang Feng, Qu Hongtao, and the other two couriers made their own alliance. As for Yang Xiaohua and Wang Shan, they were just irrelevant ordinary people who could switch sides at any moment just to surviveâtrue opportunists swaying with the wind.
The silent, somber atmosphere inside the room felt strange.
Although everyone seemed to be at peace, their inner thoughts were far from certain.
Outside the door,
hurried footsteps continued to pace back and forth.
The ghost remained outside, lingering by the door without leaving.
This peculiar environment and situation forced everyone to restrain themselves, preventing any outbreak of violence.
But everyone understood that when an opportunity arose, a deadly clash would be inevitable.
At this moment, Leuk Qingqingâs eyes were locked onto Wang Feng, as if staring at a mortal enemy. After all, he had struck her earlier with a wooden mallet, caving in her entire skull. Even now, the damage hadnât fully recovered, and it seemed unlikely to ever properly heal.
Though the injury wasnât severe,
she couldnât tolerate the way it left her.
Wang Feng, on the other hand, was being extremely cautious around Yang Jian. His two companions were equally wary, convinced that Yang Jian posed the greatest threat.
âInteresting,â Yang Jian muttered to himself, observing everyoneâs reactions.
He hadnât killed anyone todayânot directly, anywayâand had shown remarkable restraint. Otherwise, not only would Wang Fengâs group of couriers be dead, but even Leuk Qingqing and Eagle wouldnât have made it this far.
The reason for his restraint,
was largely because the fourth floor of the post office was incredibly dangerous tonight, and Yang Jian didnât want to create unnecessary complications.
Moreover, there was no urgency to act now.
âLet some people live a little longer. Tomorrow morning, everything will be dealt with.â Yang Jian found a spot to sit down, closed his eyes, and began to rest.
Seeing this, Yang Xiaohua sat close to Yang Jian.
Although she knew Yang Jian had offended many people here, none of them were important. From beginning to end, the only person capable of ensuring her survival was Yang Jian.
If the opportunity arose, Yang Xiaohua wouldnât mind currying favor with him in exchange for a chance to live.
âIt feels like itâs not as dangerous as before,â
Li Yang remarked, seated by the door to guard against any intrusion by the ghost outside. Compared to earlier, the situation now seemed relatively safe, as though the worst had already passed.
But it was only eight-thirty; not even nine oâclock yet.
The night had only just begun.
Inside the room, none of the nine people spoke much, maintaining an eerie silence. However, not a single one of them appeared sleepyâthey all remained highly cautious, ready to react to the slightest disturbance.
Time crept forward.
Nine oâclock. Nine-ten. Nine-thirty⊠ten oâclock.
The next few hours passed peacefully without incident.
Yang Jianâs decision proved wise. Staying in Room 404 indeed greatly reduced the risk of ghost attacks. If they had remained in the hallway, who knew what horrors mightâve befallen them by now?
The extended period of safety, combined with the relentless tension, led to a slight sense of relief. Some individuals even felt an overwhelming urge to sleep.
Yang Xiaohua began to doze off. She wasnât fully asleep but was on the verge, jerking awake each time and resorting to slapping her face or pinching herself to stay alert.
She glanced to her side,
where Yang Jian remained seated, unmoving. His presence was oddly reassuring.
Then she turned to look at Li Yang on the other side, noticing that Li Yang was wide awake, showing no sign of drowsiness.
She scanned the rest of the group.
There wasnât much variationâsome people stood to force themselves to stay awake, while others struggled to keep their eyes open but remained vigilant.
Finally, Yang Xiaohuaâs gaze landed on Wang Shan, who was huddled near the wall with his head down, completely still, as though he had fallen asleep.
âWang Shan? Donât fall asleep,â
Yang Xiaohua whispered, trying to warn him to stay awake and avoid any untimely dangers.
But Wang Shan didnât respond, seemingly unaware of her words.
Yang Xiaohua gently nudged him, but just as she was about to say something, her hand recoiled violently upon touching him.
Wang Shanâs body was unnaturally coldâso frigid it felt like a corpse, devoid of any warmth.
âWang Shan?â
This time, she shook him harder, but his body simply toppled over, collapsing onto the floor with a heavy thud. His entire body was ice-cold, showing no signs of life.
Dead. Was he dead?
After a brief moment of shock, Yang Xiaohua suddenly realized the gravity of the situation.
âWang Shan is dead!â
Her voice rose sharply, breaking the roomâs silence and snapping everyone to attention. One by one, all eyes turned to the scene.
Under the dim room lighting, they could see Wang Shanâs lifeless body.
âDead? Impossible!â Eagle leaped to his feet and rushed over to examine the corpse.
âHe really is dead. And not for longâthereâs still residual warmth in his chest. But there are no obvious wounds or signs of supernatural attacks⊠it looks like sudden death,â he concluded.
Sudden death?
âEagle, do you really think a perfectly healthy person could just drop dead like that out of the blue?â Qu Hongtao, one of the couriers, asked coldly.
Wang Feng interjected, âIâm not saying itâs impossible, but itâs highly unlikely. For the record, his death has nothing to do with us, so donât you dare try to pin this on us. Honestly, we wouldnât waste our efforts on someone irrelevant. Isnât that right?â
Fearing that Wang Shanâs death would spark conflict, Wang Feng scrambled to distance himself from the incident to avoid blame.
âIf it wasnât natural causes or foul play, then thereâs only one explanation: he was killed by a ghost. This room might not be as safe as we thought,â
Leuk Qingqing said, tying her dark hair up to conceal her deformed skull.
Her words sent chills through everyone.
âDonât jump to conclusions. If there were a ghost in this room, it wouldâve revealed itself by now. How could it hide for so long with so many eyes watching?â Wang Feng immediately refuted.
Eagle stayed silent, his gaze drifting to the roomâs bed.
On the bed lay a highly decomposed corpseâthe body of his friend, Zhu Lei.
If there was anything suspicious here, that corpse was the likeliest candidate.
âWhat do you think, Captain?â Li Yang asked quietly, unable to deduce the truth on his own. He turned to Yang Jian for guidance.
Everyone else also shifted their focus to Yang Jian.
Here, Yang Jian was the authority figure. His words carried the most weight.
Yang Jian slowly opened his eyes, the flesh on his forehead splitting to reveal a crimson eye darting around the room, scanning every corner before settling briefly on Wang Shanâs corpse.
âHis death is indeed strange. Even I didnât notice it happening,â
Yang Jian admitted. Despite his vigilance, he hadnât paid much attention to Wang Shan, an ordinary person from the first floor. Someone like that could drop dead at any moment without raising eyebrows.
But dying at this juncture? That was unsettling.
Perhaps there really was a ghost hiding in this room.
âHave you all forgotten? Thereâs a ghost among the couriers on the fourth floor,â Yang Jian calmly reminded everyone.
âWhich means that one of the couriers here isnât human but a ghost in disguise. Wang Shanâs death might be connected to that.â
His words sent a shockwave through the group.
Of course.
The rumor said that one of the couriers from the fourth floor had been replaced by a ghost, and that was the reason the post office had fallen into chaos.
âYou mean to say that the disguised ghost is among us?â Wang Fengâs heart sank, cold dread seeping into his limbs.
âWeâre couriers from the third floor. The ghost canât be one of us. Itâs only the fourth-floor couriers who are suspicious. Wang Feng, right? Can you vouch for the people around you? Or⊠could it be you?â Yang Jian said slowly.
âAre you kidding? If one of us were the ghost, do you think weâd have survived this long?â Wang Feng retorted.
Leuk Qingqing remained silent, her gaze shifting momentarily to Eagle.
Eagle couldnât be ruled out either.
âWho knows? Letâs wait and see. The night is still long. If the ghost is among us, itâll strike again when it finds the chance,â Yang Jian remarked.
âDo you think the ghost will still kill after youâve called it out?â Eagle asked.
âYes,â
Yang Jian replied. âAfter all, a ghost is still a ghost. It doesnât calculate gains and losses; it doesnât weigh pros and cons. No matter how well it mimics being human, its essence doesnât change. It will strike whenever it gets the chance.â
âThis is terrible,â Yang Xiaohua said, feeling a deep sense of despair.
She had thought the danger had passed. Yet it turned out there was a ghost hiding among the nine of them.
No, now it was eight.
âDamn it,â Qu Hongtao muttered under his breath, overwhelmed with frustration.
Yang Jian remained calm. He knew he wasnât in any real danger; if the ghost targeted him, it would immediately expose itself.
Managing to secretly kill Wang Shan under everyoneâs nose had been hard enough already.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
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